Suzuka, Japan – perfection. Magical. Inspirational. Any word you used to frame Max Verstappen‘with Winning the Japanese Great Prixe – And the superlatives were in a high offer throughout the weekend- it was something special.
The Sunday race was by no means a classic, but Verstappen’s weekend was a year of another kind. It was a racing victory built on the subsoil of the scintillation round, which defeated McLarens on Saturday on the position of the pole and then the pace of trademark and unshakable peace that maintained both orange cars in the arm on Sunday.
When he spoke on the radio just after the chess flag, the long -term racing engineer Gianpiero Lambias briefly summarized Verstappen’s performance: “That’s perfection. Just perfection, max fantastic.” It was difficult to disagree. Go for a short time in the Pit-Stop phase and closely shaving Lando Norris At the output of the pit, Verstappen dominated the front control. Red Bull boss Christian Horner described four times the world’s champion “inspiring” in his own congratulations to the cooling wheel.
Verstappen’s victory moved the point behind Norris at the Championship after three races, which is a remarkable performance that this season due to McLaren’s pace so far and the ongoing battle Red Bull with RB21. It was a weekend that continued to strengthen his growing legends as a man who could do special things with any machine he had to drive.
Never in doubt
The lead to the Japanese Grand Prix focused on the Red Bull’s decision to hand over Verstappen its third other teammate in just four races, with Yuki tsunoda exchanges Liam Lawson. He became the latest victim of the poisoned chalice, which is the second seat of Red Bull, which ended up in Sprint and Grand Prix in China. Tsunoda actually started the weekend strongly in terms of pace and ended near Verstappen in both Friday training sessions, but in Q2 it saw him depending on it, there was a harsh round in Q2.
The incredible round of the Verstappen Field, which followed in Q3, created a contrast between the new teammates Stark. Double world champion and winner of 24 hours Le Mans Fernando AlonsoOne of the most complete racing talents of the modern era, watched in respect in the media Peru, as the bike developed and the Dutch name moved to the top of timing timing.
“He’s an excellent driver. It proves every weekend,” Aston Martin said. “Hats for him. I think the bike he did today is up to him.
This growing reference point was eventually the core of the Red Bull problems with the second car. Generation Talent Verstappen has been obvious since the first time he was driving a Formula 1 car, but his ability to drive everything – and those who are in Red Bull often tell you that his natural limit has become more and more in recent seasons. In 2024 he started with a dominant car, but his victory of the championship was on permanent points that gathered during the season when the Red Bull season began to crumble. The teammates just couldn’t deal with him.
Easy and perhaps too simplistic way of explaining the philosophy of the Red Bull design can be this: if it can drive it, we will build it. Four drivers’ championships were an obvious pay. As a result of raising his head last year, when the RB20 became more and more handful, which is an erratic machine that he even hated in the summer. Sergio PérezThe form has Nosedive and Red Bull lost the designers’ championship – Verstappen was able to accumulate the points he needed, and at the same time he won brilliantly in places like Brazil to take his fourth flat individual title.
How bad is RB21, remains an open question in Paddock F1 – the lack of a good reference point from the second car makes it difficult to answer. Age old question driver vs. The machines have persisted throughout the Formula 1 story and you will find some people in Paddock who will say that Red Bull is much better than people give recognition. Whether you fall for this performance, few people in Red Bull remembered better overall performance.
“I think it’s one of Max’s best weekends he had,” said Horner, team boss from Inception on Sunday. “We literally turned the car upside down, set up.
The shaft for Verstappen rang the loudest on Saturday, but its presence on the upper step of the stage between two drivers, who most scientists believe they will only fight for the driver’s championship, was worthy of respect over Paddock.
Asked by ESPN on Sunday, if what he does with RB21 feels as strange to him as it was for all who watched, the Dutch said, “Yeah, yes. That also means I really care, although, of course, this is not the easiest start of the year.
“I don’t listen to positives and negatives. I’m just in the middle, you know, so I’m just focusing on my own performance. And yeah, just continue to work, on.”
Can Verstappen do this in a three -way struggle?
In three races, three different drivers transformed the position of the pole to victory: Norris in Australia, Oscar Plastri In China and now Verstappen in Japan. These three men shared the stage in Suzuce. Norris released Talk McLaren, who had an unrivaled car on Thursday as a “nonsense” on Thursday and apparently perceived the team of the team of the Sunday winner as the third round in their growing fight against the team.
“We treat Max and Red Bull as warriors,” said McLaren’s director Andrea Stella on Sunday. “When Max raises the game so much, you have to qualify and you have to bring home any millisecond.”
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Vertsappen: Incredibly satisfied with the victory of Japan GP
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen together with Lando Norris, Oscar Piastrim and Charles Leclerc respond to a Japanese general practitioner.
Whether Verstappen can stay in the fight now can be the biggest story of this part of the season, especially if the Red Bull can do with their car, what McLaren has been able to achieve its own 12 months. On Sunday he asked if he felt that Verstappen could stay in the fight all year round, Alonso had memories of his own season 2012, when he did not have an agonically shortly before the world’s third championship considered second, third and fourth in different parts of the season.
Alonso shook his head while hearing the question and said, “I don’t know, I was there, I fought for the World Championship with the fourth fastest car, so you know it’s difficult to beat (Sebastian) Vettel. I hope he can fight for him to the end, but a little machine has to improve.
“He won four, so he can fight with a little (for) less competitive car, but yeah, it’s hard and I think people don’t realize how difficult it is and how you have to do it every weekend, so far.
McLaren’s struggle will also be a blessing for Verstappen. Piastri had an impressive beginning of the season and its pace was much closer to Norris (and on a more consistent basis) than last year. The fact that the Australian indicated that Norris focused on positions in the final stages, gives a tantalizing view of headaches that McLaren expected from his two mega-talented racing drivers as this season progressed.
As was the case when teammates fought for the championship together, the flash point will be a matter of where, not, if, especially in the 24 races season. Every driver in a competitive team would benefit from this – the situation for men as good as the Red Bull’s main driver could be a foot in the door that he needs legitimately for the fifth title, regardless of the extent to which the team is improving the car.
Verstappen responded to the proposal of his master’s challenge in a typical way. When asked if there’s a three -way fight, he said, “I don’t know. I think it’s still … it’s a very long season. Many things can happen, right?
He doesn’t have to scream about it, but Verstappen’s size speaks for himself – undervalued, tireless and impossible to ignore.
